Alexander Volkanovski plans to return to the octagon next year, and he hopes it will be headlining a show in his home country.
At UFC 276, Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title for the fourth time, winning a dominant unanimous decision victory over former champion Max Holloway. The win put a stamp on Volkanovski’s rivalry with Holloway and vaulted him to the top spot in the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings. According to Volkanovski, it also finally earned him the respect he deserves from fans and everyone else.
“There’s a lot of biased bulls*** that I had to deal with,” Volkanovski told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Obviously, Max is a well-loved guy and some of the s*** that I had to deal with, even in that second fight, but after it, all of it. You’re bound to be criticized, but that’s okay. There was bias everywhere. It’s not my place to discuss it. It’s not necessary. I think people understand.
“Would you say I’ve been fairly treated as champ the whole time? From fans, UFC, anyone? It’s pretty easy to understand. Many people would not have chosen me as champion. That’s why I looked at the camera and said, ‘What now? None of you can say s***. “Stop talking.” That was the essence of it. That was a message that reached many people and not only fans. I wasn’t angry. It was like “Now you can join the party.” You can now act as if you care about this, when in reality many people weren’t. Perhaps it was my chip on the shoulder. That’s why I wanted that third fight for a long time. …
“I feel that now I have the ability to make decisions and have conversations I never thought I would be able to have. Now I’m getting that respect from everyone, which I think is deserved.”
Although Volkanovski did not voice any grievances at the time, he had previously stated that he wanted to defend his featherweight title in Australia. This request has still to be met. Volkanovski hopes that the UFC will return to Down Under in the early part of next year to fight him.
“It’s pretty hard to tell [how long recovery will be],” he said. When can I get back to punching with this? Eleven weeks, I’ll be able to punch again and have full contact. But obviously, I want to have a camp and things like that. So I think realistically, we could do something in December. However, this has slowed down my ability to stay active. They’re going to Australia in quarter one of next year. I must defend my belt or fight in Australia. That’s what I believe I deserve.
“So, whether I try to squeeze something in before that — me squeezing, that’s me rushing things — or do I just do what obviously everyone in Australia deserves. It’s what I want, and the UFC would be very happy to have me headline a card over there, as well. In the first quarter of the year .”
, a lightweight fight will take place.
Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev will face off for the vacant lightweight title in October at UFC 280. While Volkanovski could face the winner, doing so in Australia could be seen as a big advantage and a show of favoritism toward the featherweight champion.
Volkanovski believes fair is fair.
“The winner in Australia, why not?” he said. He said, “I believe some of them may sit there and say, ‘Oh! Why should we fight over here?’ But I’m the one who deserves it. Pretty much every single one of my fights has been overseas. I’ve defended all of my belts not on home territory this whole time. It’s possible for someone to lose the belt here or there, so I don’t know who wins it. So we’ll see. Let’s see.
While three of Volkanovski’s four first UFC fights were held in Australia, the champion hasn’t fought since stopping Jeremy Kennedy at UFC 221, before he won the belt. A return to Australia as the featherweight champion and top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, attempting to win his second title in the UFC, that’s the sort of marquee event that could sell out the 50,000-seat capacity Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. Volkanovski believes that it’s possible.
” We have not had that conversation,” said he. “It depends. A stadium show is something I would love to see, though it happens very seldom. It’s something that sometimes the UFC doesn’t like doing, and I get it, because it’s so big and the atmosphere sometimes feels a little different because it’s not as compact. So I don’t know. I haven’t had those conversations, but of course I’d love the Marvel Stadium or something like that.”
Whatever happens to Volkanovski next, however, he believes it will be huge. The featherweight champion has beaten everyone the UFC has put in front of him, and with a newly signed contract reported to be one of the biggest in divisional history, he is ready to do big business.
” These are conversations that you have but it wasn’t something that was set in stone,” Volkanovski stated about the lightweight title shot. “I am the kind of man that wants to be busy. It doesn’t have to be now. But it could happen later. It’s always been that way to me. It’s something we discussed, but it’s also something they feel I deserve. We all agree that it is fair and I believe we are all in agreement.
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